• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.203-207
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• 2010

A number of bacterial species coexist in oral cavities as a biofilm rather than a planktonic arrangement. By forming an oral biofilm with quorum sensing properties, microorganisms can develop a higher pathogenic potential and stronger resistance to the host immune system and antibiotics. Hence, the inhibition of biofilm formation has become a major research issue for the future prevention and treatment of oral diseases. In this study, we investigated the effects of pentose on biofilm formation and phenotypic changes using wild type oral bacteria obtained from healthy human saliva. D-ribose and D-arabinose were found to inhibit biofilm formation, but have no effects on the growth of each oral bacterium tested. Pentoses may thus be good candidate biofilm inhibitors without growth-inhibition activity and be employed for the future prevention or treatment of oral diseases.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.335-342
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• 2017

Oysters Crassostrea gigas are a globally popular shellfish for human consumption. As filter-feeding bivalve mollusks, oysters may harbor many microorganisms and chemicals that could pose potential human health risks. The objective of this study was to investigate the suitability of cultured oysters for raw consumption or use in seafood products by measuring concentrations of harmful microorganisms and chemicals in their flesh. Microbial concentrations in cultured oysters were found to be: $1.0{\times}10^2-6.0{\times}10^4CFU/g$ (viable cell counts), not detected $(ND)-5.4{\times}10^3CFU/g$ (coliform bacteria), $ND-1.3{\times}10^2CFU/g$ (E. coli), and $ND-4.6{\times}10^3CFU/g$ (Vibrio parahaemolyticus). Other pathogenic bacteria, including Enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC), Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, and Salmonella spp., were not detected in any samples. Heavy metal concentrations of cultured oysters were ND-0.239 mg/kg (total mercury), ND-1.091 mg/kg (lead), ND-0.968 mg/kg (cadmium). The concentrations of benzo(a)pyrene ranged from $0.280-0.880{\mu}g/kg$. Paralytic shellfish poison ranged from ND-0.58 mg/kg, while diarrhetic shellfish poison was not detected. No radioactivity was detected. These results suggest that oysters intended for raw consumption or use in seafood products should be subjected to chemical and biological controls.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.97-104
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• 2015

Vinegar is a widely used acidic seasoning and can be manufactured using various methods and bases, including cereals, wheat, and fruits. Most studies on vinegar have been conducted to evaluate its antioxidant activity. In the present study, fermented dark vinegar (FDV) produced from unpolished rice was examined for its antimicrobial activity, biochemical content, including the amounts of sugar, total soluble sugar, organic acid, and free amino acids, and pH and physiological activity. The antimicrobial efficiency of FDV was assessed using the paper disc-agar diffusion method. FDV exhibited strong antimicrobial activity against the pathogenic bacteria and yeast strains that were tested. In fact, the activity of FDV was shown to be higher than that of the commercial antibiotics carbenicillin (50 µg/ml) and tetracycline (50 µg/ml) against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhimurium, Yersinia enterocolitica, and Lodderomyces elongisporus. The antioxidant activity of FDV and ascorbic acid was evaluated. Using the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging method, we found that FDV has the highest activity of the antioxidants. After spreading FDV onto tryptic soy broth and yeast extract-peptone-dextrose agar media, the microbial strains were isolated and characterized through physiological and biochemical analysis. Based on 16S ribosomal DNA sequence analysis, the isolated microorganisms exhibited a close similarity to Acetobacter papayae, Acetobacter pasteurianus, and Acetobacter peroxidans.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.96-103
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• 2009

For the control of pathogenic microorganisms, Bacillus spp. were isolated from diseased pepper fruits in Korea. Among them, Bacillus sp. IUB158-03 showed high inhibitory effect on mycelial growth and spore germination of C. gloeosporioides and Botrytis cinerea. The strain was identified as B. amyloliquefaciens IUB158-03 based on its physiological, biochemical characteristics and Microlog analysis. The highest level of antifungal substances by B. amyloliquefaciens IUB158-03 were obtained when the bacterium was cultured in medium containing 2% soluble starch, 3% yeast extract, 0.5% tryptone, 0.5% $NH_4H_2PO_4$, and 1% NaCl (pH 6.0) at $25^{\circ}C$ for 72 hrs. The antifungal substances were purified by butanol extraction, silica gel column chromatography, preparative thin layer chromatography, and high performance liquid chromatography. The purified antifungal substance was confirmed $R_f$ 0.27 by TLC. This substance exhibited antifungal activity against Fusarium solani, Rhizoctonia solani, Botrytis cineria, Alternata alternaria of plant pathogenic fungi and Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Epidermophyton floccosum, Cryptococcus neoformans of human pathogenic fungi.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.29 no.9
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• pp.1020-1026
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• 2007

The control of pathogenic microorganisms is important issue in human environments, especially in surface area. However, surface disinfection has not been fully researched. In this study, the surface disinfection under UV irradiation was performed to investigate the quantitative kinetics for Bacillus subtilis spore inactivation in several experimental conditions, such as light intensity, temperature and surface roughness. This study reports that UV light would apparently inactivates the microorganisms and the required IT value for 2 log (99%) Bacillus subtilis spore inactivation was found to be 14.5 $mJ/cm^2$ in plain surface, as predicted by the Delayed Chick-Watson model. When UV was irradiated, there were no significant temperature effects. However, the experimental result shows that the more increased IT values are required at larger surface roughness.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.144-151
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• 2012

In the course of this study aimed at the development of functional food ingredients from seaweeds, the in vitro antimicrobial activities of methanol extracts prepared from 35 different seaweeds (17 phaeophyta, 11 rhodophyta and 7 chlorophyta) were determined against food-borne diseases and pathogenic microorganisms including multi-drug resistant (MDR) Pseudomonas sp. and Candida sp. Based on disc-diffusion assays at 500 g/disc concentration of the methanol extracts, Ishige okamurai, I. foliacea, Sargassum confusum, and S. yamade exhibited strong antibacterial activities in a broad-spectrum, except against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In addition to the latter four seaweeds, Ecklonia stolonifera, E. cava and Eisenia bicyclis also demonstrated antifungal activity against C. albicans. Among these 8 selected seaweeds, I. okamurai, I. foliacea, and S. yamade exhibited strong hemolytic activity (55-93%) at 500 g/ml against human RBC. Organic solvent sequential fractions using hexane, ethylacetate and butanol, and water residues were prepared from the 8 selected seaweeds and their anti-Candida sp. activities were further determined. The ethylacetate and butanol fraction of I. okamurai, and the hexane fraction of I. foliacea demonstrated antifungal activity against MDR-pathogenic Candida sp. Although the solvent fractions had no activity against MDR-Pseudomonas sp., our results suggest that seaweeds, especially Ishige okamurai, I. foliacea, S. confusum, and S. yamade could be developed as broad-spectrum antimicrobial ingredients.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.820-830
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• 2019

Most consumers consider yogurt to be a healthy food because it contains probiotic microorganisms. Although a plethora of commercially produced yogurts exists, nutritional and functional aspects of the commercial yogurts have not been well characterized. In this study, the microbiological and physicochemical properties of popular drinking yogurts in Korea were extensively characterized. The viability of lactic acid bacteria, including lactobacilli and bifidobacteria, varied between yogurt samples. These lactobacilli and bifidobacteria showed effective antimicrobial activities against foodborne pathogenic bacteria. Unlike the titratable acidity and pH, the soluble solids content varied between yogurt samples. All the yogurt samples contained high levels of potassium (average 143.53 mg/100 g) and calcium (average 133.92 mg/100 g), as well as phosphorus and sodium. Lactose, fructose, and glucose were the major sugar components in most yogurt samples, whereas the levels of sucrose and maltose were relatively low. Among several organic acids analyzed in the yogurt samples, lactic acid (average 767.67 mg/100 g) and citric acid (average 170.91 mg/100 g) were the most predominant. Taken together, this study provides preliminary information about the nutritional and functional characteristics of commercially available drinking yogurts.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.291-297
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• 2015

An oral environment is constantly exposed to environmental factors and microorganisms. The periodontal ligament (PDL) fibroblasts within this environment are subject to bacterial infection and allergic reaction. However, how these condition affect PDL fibroblasts has yet to be elucidated. PDL fibroblasts were isolated from healthy donors. We examined using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and measuring the intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ concentration ($[Ca^{2+}]_i$). This study investigated the receptors activated by exogenous bacterial pathogens (Lipopolysaccharide and peptidoglycan) and allergens (German cockroach extract and house dust mite) as well as these pathogenic mediators-induced effects on the intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ signaling in human PDL fibroblasts. Moreover, we evaluated the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines (interleukin (IL)-$1{\beta}$, IL-6, and IL-8) and bone remodeling mediators (receptor activator of NF-${\kappa}B$ ligand and osteoprotegerin) and intracellular $Ca^{2+}$-involved effect. Bacterial pathogens and allergic mediators induced increased expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, and these results are dependent on intracellular $Ca^{2+}$. However, bacterial pathogens and allergic mediators did not lead to increased expression of bone remodeling mediators, except lipopolysaccharide-induced effect on receptor activator of NF-${\kappa}B$ ligand expression. These experiments provide evidence that a pathogens and allergens-induced increase in $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ affects the inflammatory response in human PDL fibroblasts.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Fisheries Technology Conference
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• 2000.05a
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• pp.530-530
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• 2000

The host defense system or immune system of all modern animals has their roots in very ancient organisms. After analyzing literature data concerning properties of invertebrates and vertebrates lectins we suggest that mechanism of mannans recognition may exist in marine invertebrates, as a universal mechanism for homeostasis maintenance and host defense, and mannan-binding lectins family of vertebrates has ancient precursor, as was shown for another S-type lectins family. We carried out the screening of mannan-binding type lectin among different species of echinoderms inhabiting in Piter the Grate Bay, the sea of Japan. As a result, the C-type lectins (SJL-32) specific for high mannose glycans was isolated from the coelomic plasma of the sea cucumbers Stichopus japonicus by ion-exchange chromatography on a DEAE-Toyopearl 650M, affinity chromatography on a mannan-Sepharose 6B and gel filtration on a Sephacryl S-200. SJL-32 is homodimer with molecular mass about 32 kDa on SDS-PAGE under non-reducing conditions. Protein part of the lectin has high conteins Asn, Glu, Ser. Hemagglutination of trypsin-treated O blood group human erythrocytes by SJL-32 was competitively inhibited by high-branched -D-mannan composed of -1,2 and -1,6 linked D-mannopyranose residues. In contrast, a variety of mono-, oligo-, and polysaccharides composed of residues of galactose and fucose showed absence or little inhibitory activities. The lectin activity strong depends on Ca2+ concentration, temperature and pH. Monospecific polyclonal antibodies were obtained to the lectin. As was shown by ELISA assay, antibodies to SJL-32 cross-reacted with human serum mannan-binding lectin. This data allows making conclusion about common antigenic determinants and structural homology of both lectins. In our opinion, SJL-32 belongs to evolutionary high conservative mannan-binding lectins (MBLs) family and takes part in the host defense against pathogenic microorganisms.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.34 no.7
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• pp.504-515
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• 2012

Groundwater is widely used as drinking water supplies around the world. However, microbial contamination of groundwater is a serious environmental problem that degrades drinking water quality and poses a great threat to human health. Among the pathogenic microorganisms such as viruses, bacteria, and protozoa, viruses are not readily removed during transport through soils, having high mobility in groundwater environment due to their smaller size compared to bacteria and protozoa. Studies regarding the fate and transport of viruses in soils and aquifers are necessary to determine the vulnerability of groundwater to microbial contamination and to secure safe drinking water sources. Also, these studies provide important information to establish the regulations and policies related to public health. This review paper presented the field and laboratory studies conducted for the fate and transport of viruses in subsurface environments. Also, the paper provided the factors affecting the fate and transport of viruses, the characteristics of bacteriophages used for virus studies, and virus transport model/colloid filtration theory. Based on this review work, future researches should be performed actively to set up the viral protection zone for the protection of groundwater from viral contamination sources. Especially, the researches should be focused on the development of mathematical models to calculate the setback distance and travel time for the viral protection zone along with the accumulation of information related to the model parameters.